Decision Insights: 340B

340B may not be the hot topic of the healthcare IT industry, but KLAS was surprised to find that there were a significant number of purchasing decisions within the space. We wanted to understand the factors driving those decisions and why some vendors are coming out on top. Each vendor has a different approach to their technology stack and service offering, and we wanted to see how these approaches impacted their customers’ perceptions of performance and their likelihood to be considered in purchasing decisions. The full details of our findings can be found in the Decision Insights: 340B 2020 report.

Success Factors

Performance across the established vendors is varied. Some are dealing with significant performance issues, and others are gaining momentum, getting looks, and picking up business. It is interesting to see how support and functionality are so closely correlated, and it is important for folks to remember that a slick product doesn’t guarantee strong outcomes. The vendor relationship and how the vendor supports the customer can make or break a deal. Flashy new products may look good in demos, but if a support structure doesn’t exist, that flashy product won’t deliver the desired outcomes.  

The bottom line is that customers who say their vendor makes them successful have a vendor that focuses their efforts on creating and maintaining partnerships. Customers who say their vendor struggles can trace their struggles largely back to broken promises, challenges with problem resolution, and stagnant development. All this leads to a lack of trust from those customers.

Provider Problems

Transparency is a general hot-button issue. Providers are incredibly sensitive to what happens with their funding. And more than ever, providers are wanting to peek behind the curtains. Why are certain patients qualified? Are there opportunities to find people and pull them in? Are there more categories that we can bring in?

When providers contract with a vendor, they expect that vendor to be an expert who can navigate the legislative field of 340B and provide all the needed documentation that they would need for almost any scenario. Although these vendors all have staff who can be classified as “experts,” not all customers say they feel like they’ve had an expert in their corner as they’ve gone through audits and challenges. Providers need vendors who can be their experts and their guides. 

Potential Energy

There are newer, high-performing 340B vendors that do well for both large and small organizations. One new vendor in particular is getting a lot of looks. One trend that has emerged is that those vendors who are performing consistently for their current customers seem much more likely to be considered by prospective customers.

There is a lot of purchasing energy in the 340B space. We would highly encourage providers to see which vendors will be a partner while taking into account service and relationship, which usually weigh heavier than even the performance of the tools. We will be doing a deep-dive report on 340B solutions’ performance later this year, so while you wait for that report to be published, please read the full Decision Insights report.




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